ALEXANDRIA, Egypt--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Egypt’s leading drug manufacturer Pharco Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced
advanced results today from its Phase III clinical trial of the
combination of ravidasvir with sofosbuvir for the treatment of patients
with genotype-4 chronic hepatitis C virus, the largest study of its kind
globally.

The oral, late-breaker presentation entitled: “High Virologic
Response Rate in Egyptian HCV-Genotype 4 Patients Treated with
Ravidasvir (PPI-668) and Sofosbuvir: Results of a Large Multicenter
Phase 3 Registrational Trial”will be presented by the lead
Principal Investigator, Gamal Esmat, M.D. at the 66th Meeting
of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases conference
in San Francisco on November 16th 2015.

“I am honored that the presentation was accepted as one of only 6 oral
late-breaker presentations,” said Professor Esmat. “The study indicates
that we may be able to treat even compensated cirrhotic patients with a
high SVR12 rate when we extend therapy to 16 weeks. No relapses have
occurred to date in difficult to treat interferon-experienced cirrhotic
patients treated for 16 weeks. High SVR12 rates were achieved when the
combination was administered once daily for 3 months in non-cirrhotics,
and for 4 months with ribavirin in cirrhotics,” he elaborated.

Professor Imam Waked, M.D. commented, “This study suggests that we don’t
need ribavirin when using ravidasvir and sofosbuvir for genotype 4
non-cirrhotics, even if the patient previously failed on Interferon.”

“The study treatment was generally well tolerated and the once daily
dosing encouraged patients’ adherence to therapy; in addition, a high
response rate was evident in all treatment groups,” said Professor
Maissa El Raziky, M.D., one of the three principal investigators.

In August 2014, Pharco Corporation licensed ravidasvir hydrochloride in
Egypt from Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc., a US clinical stage
pharmaceutical company. The phase III study obtained all the necessary
approvals prior to its official start in January 2015.

“At Presidio we have been pleased to work with the Pharco team and
Egyptian clinical experts as they investigate the combination of
ravidasvir, Presidio’s HCV NS5A inhibitor, with sofosbuvir in a large
study population of genotype-4 Egyptian patients,” said Nathaniel A.
Brown, M.D., Chief Medical Advisor at Presidio.

Dr. Sherine Helmy, President of Pharco Corporation commented, “The study
is the first of a comprehensive scientific program that we are committed
to deliver to our country. We have one purpose: effectively eradicate
HCV in Egypt at a highly affordable cost; ravidasvir combined with
sofosbuvir is a promising once daily oral treatment that is
well-tolerated and shows high sustained virologic response rates in
Egyptian HCV Genotype 4 patients.”

ABOUT PHARCO

Pharco Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is the largest manufacturer of
pharmaceuticals in Egypt, focused on research, formulation,
manufacturing and commercialization of pharmaceutical products in the
MENA region. Today, Pharco employs over 8,000 employees, and has over
500M product sales units—ranking as the leader in the Egyptian
pharmaceutical market. Pharco also exports to 47 countries around the
world. Pharco works towards one goal…to provide highly effective
and safe pharmaceutical products to patients at an affordable price.
Pharco licensed ravidasvir hydrochloride, formerly known as (PPI-668),
from Presidio Pharmaceuticals, a San Francisco-based clinical stage,
specialty pharmaceutical company.

Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a San Francisco-based clinical-stage
pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of
small-molecule antiviral therapeutics. Presidio’s current focus is on
effective therapies for HCV infection, and includes pan-genotypic
inhibitors of NS5A (ravidasvir) and NS5B (PPI-383).